by Jason Victor Serinus

It was exciting enough that San Francisco Opera General
Director David Gockley gave us two strong casts for Tosca
, with "dueling divas" Angela Gheorghiu and
Patricia Racette pitted against each other in a role where going for broke is
the norm. But when Gheorghiu could only make it through Nov. 15's opening night's
first act before being ambulanced to the hospital with intestinal flu and
nausea, and her understudy Melody Moore was rushed into costume, far more drama
unfolded on the stage of the War Memorial Opera House than anyone had expected.

What made matters even more exciting, for those with
lavender hearts, is that both Moore and Racette – Melody and Pat to their
adoring fans – are out lesbians in committed relationships. Add to the
mix out and married Canadian sister Adrianne Pieczonka, the Tosca for SFO's
2009 run of Puccini and Illica's potboiler, and the male nude frescoes that
dominate Scarpia's apartments in the familiar production's Farnese Palace, and
you being to wonder if SFO's Rainbow Series has expanded to include entire
operas.

I was going to use "delicious" to refer to SFO's
lesbian triumvirate, but that word must be reserved for Racette's Tosca of Nov.
16. From the moment she appeared onstage, lips tight with jealousy, eyes
darting about, and voice flying high and strong, it was clear that we were in
for quite a show. The top of Racette's range may have grown more tremulous
since her Butterfly of over six years
ago, but she knows how to sing through its wide but still fast vibrato, and her
voice and being remain beautiful and supremely communicative.

Determined not to miss a trick in the book, Racette was a
diva delight. Add to the mix tenor Brian Jagde, a young and somewhat beefy
Cavaradossi with an invitingly natural ease onstage and a big, burnished,
ardent voice that mixes baritonal heft with a ringing top, and baritone Mark
Delavan, a larger-than-life Baron Scarpia who melds throaty force with evident
glee in flipping from dastardly charmer to despicable devil, and you have a
theatrically charged trio that transformed Puccini's 112-year old melodrama
into living theater.

The loving interplay between Racette and Jagde was a relief
after the lack of chemistry between opening night's Cavaradossi, Massimo
Giordano, and both of his Toscas. Giordano's face and figure lacked
electricity, and the voice, at least on opening night, wasn't strong enough to
project his character's ardor across the footlights. Too many high notes were
pushed up from the octave below, and his short-lived cry of victory in Act II
proclaimed his vocal limitations. Roberto Frontali, the cast's Scarpia,
possessed the only strong voice of the three principals, but his Scarpia was
less subtle than underplayed. To contrast the look on Delavan's face as he was
about to pounce on Tosca with Frontali's apparent lack of animal zeal spoke
volumes about their theatrical expertise, at least in matters horizontal.

Melody Moore as Tosca in the San Francisco Opera production. (Photo: Kristen Loken)

There was a break of close to an hour before Moore was ready
to step onstage for her first stab at Tosca. Lord knows what the flurry was
like backstage, but she seemed exceedingly pulled in before the footlights, as
if she wasn't quite ready to inhabit the "diva unhinged" role on
short notice. Far more heartfelt than hearty, she seemed as though she didn't
have an ounce of diva bitch in her being.

The audience, nonetheless, was on her side. Just about
everyone who has seen Moore perform at multiple LGBT events, or at SFO as the
deeply moving lead in Heart of a Soldier
and gleeful First Lady in The Magic Flute, has grown to love her. Attendees made their support known with a huge
ovation after her beautifully sung "Vissi d'arte." By the final act,
she came into her own, with a performance notable for both its vocal beauty,
absolute surety on high C, and presence. If Gheorghiu does not recover in time
for Sunday's matinee, I expect Moore's first full Tosca on any stage will make
a considerable mark.

In secondary roles, Christian Van Horn's towering Angelotti
was so powerful that I wished the plot had allowed him more time onstage before
his death. Veteran Dale Travis' Sacristan made clear what character acting is
all about, and Joel Sorensen's sniveling Spoletta was suitably despicable. The
offstage voice of Shepherd boy Etienne Valdez on opening night was a major
asset, and the chorus was, as expected, excellent. The orchestra played
gloriously, but on opening night, Music Director Nicola Luisotti refused to
hold back in Act II, putting orchestral swells before respect for a last-minute
replacement's reticence.

As for Gheorghiu, whose recent ROH Tosca
with Jonas Kaufmann and Bryn Terfel –
coincidentally Racette's Tosca
duo at the Met – has just become available on DVD, it's unfair to judge
the smaller-voiced, more subdued performance of a diva in major distress who
seemed less than totally present. I don't know if Director Jose Maria Condemi
can inspire Giordano to get more with the program – Jagde, Racette, and
Delavan need no such prompting, and relished adding a host of stage business
unseen on opening night – but I fully expect fighter Gheorghiu to return
to the stage prepared for a collegial duel to a blazing finish.